Container filling device with porous nozzle

ABSTRACT

Extending down from the lower end of a vertical containerfilling tube is a porous nozzle that is adapted to be inserted in a container, such as a bottle, to be filled. The nozzle has a plurality of concentric side walls and a lower end wall. The side walls are spaced apart slightly, but the top and bottom of the space between them is closed. Liquid under pressure is discharged through the porous side walls at low velocity in extremely fine streams that merge together and fill the container very rapidly without producing appreciable foam.

United States Patent 1191 McLennand 1 Apr. 23, 1974 CONTAINER FILLING DEVICE WITH POROUS NOZZLE [75] Inventor: Richard McLennand,Coraopolis,

[73] Assignee: Horix Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh, Pa.

22 Filed: Manzz, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 237,040

[52] US. Cl 141/286, 210/460, 210/497,

239/553.3 [51] Int. Cl B65b 3/22 [58] Field of Search 141/286, 339; 210/460,

[56] 9 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,642,213 2/1972 2,515,600 7/1950 2,759,711 3/1956 Holden Aghnides 239/5533 X 2,998,932 9/1961 Aghnides 239/5903 X 3,130,917 4/1964 Aghnides 239/5903 X 3,707,236 12/1972 Takebayasi 210/460 X Primary Examiner-Houston S. Bell, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-Charles Gorenstein Attorney, Agent, or FirmBrown, Murray, Flick & Peckham 5 7] ABSTRACT Extending down from the lower end of a vertical container-filling tube is a porous nozzle that is adapted to be inserted in a container, such as a bottle, to be filled. The nozzle has a plurality of concentric side walls and a lower end wall. The side walls are spaced apart slightly, but the top and bottom of the space between them is closed. Liquid under pressure is discharged through the porous side walls at low velocity in extremely fine streams that merge together and fill the container very rapidly without producing appreciable foam.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures CONTAINER FILLING DEVICE WITH POROUS NOZZLE In the copending patent application of Chester E. Waxlax, Ser. No. 88,577, filed Nov. 12, 1970, now US. Pat. No. 3,698,452 a container-filling device with a porous nozzle is disclosed. As explained in that application, the nozzle permits a bottle to be filled rapidly with a liquid under pressure without appreciable foaming of the liquid inside the bottle, foaming being highly undesirable for several well-known reasons. The nozzle disclosed in that application permits bottles to be filled more rapidly than before. Yet, where tens of thousands of bottles are being filled by a machine every day, a further reduction in filling time of even one second per bottle will allow a machine to be run at a higher speed so that its production can be increased still further.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a container filling device which permits bottles to be filled even more rapidly than with the nozzle disclosed in the above-mentioned patent application.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a side view of the filling device in filling position, with parts broken away in vertical section;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged upper end view of the nozzle alone;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line Ill-lll of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a central vertical section through a modified nozzle; and

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section taken on the line VIVI of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings, a vertical filling tube 1 extends downwardly from a suitable supporting conduit 2, through which liquid is delivered to the upper end of the tube under pressure for rapid filling. Attached to the lower end of the tube is the upper end of a hollow nozzle 3 that has a side wall portion and a lower end wall. To fill a bottle with the liquid, the bottle 4 is placed on a support 5 that is then raised to insert the nozzle and the lower part of the filling tube in the bottle. The filling tube may be encircled by an outer tube 6, the upper end of which is adapted to be connected to means for producing a vacuum or suction in the tube. The lower end of the outer tube is spaced above the upper end of the nozzle and determines the level to which the bottle can be filled. That is, any liquid tending to rise in the bottle above the lower end of the vacuum tube is sucked up by that tube. I

It is a feature of this invention that the nozzle delivers the liquid product from the filling tube to the bottle very rapidly and without causing objectionable foaming as the bottle is filled, even when a foaming liquid such as whiskey is used. Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the side wall portion of the nozzle is formed from a plurality, preferably two, of concentric porous side walls 8 and 9 that are spaced apart slightly to form a chamber 10 (FIG. 3) between them that can fill-with the liquid product. Although the horizontal width of this chamber is not especially critical, in practice it generally will be one-sixteenth inch or less. The porous walls may be formed from cylindrical screens of extremely fine mesh, such as 50 to 100 microns. The mesh or porosity of theinner screen should be at least as fine as the porosity of the outer screen. Since the top and bottom of the thin space between the two side walls or screens must be closed, this is done by the lower end wall 11 of the nozzle and by a ring 12 forming the top of the nozzle. The ring and lower end wall of the nozzle are connected together by a pair of diametrically opposite vertical struts 13. They can all be formed integrally from a metal rod if desired. The ring may be provided with internal screw threads for attaching it to the lower end of the filling tube.

The inner screen 8 is inserted between and against the two struts, which hold it in place. The bottom of the screen rests on the lower end wall and the top of the screen engages the bottom of ring 12. The outer screen 9 encircles the two struts in engagement with them and rests on the laterally projecting lower end wall, whereby the two screens are spaced apart by the two struts. The ring '12 overlies and engages the upper end of the outer screen. The top and bottom of this screen are soldered or welded to the ring and lower end wall, respectively.

A very unexpected result is produced by the just de' scribed. For some reason that is not fully understood,

the double porous wall with the slight spacing between thetwo screens not only reduces the velocity of the liquid further but, more importantly, changes the pattern of the flow so that it becomes smoother and is directed downwardly more sharply, with the net result that the pressure forcing the liquid through the nozzle can be increased without increasing foaming. This permits bottles to be filled more rapidly than with a single-wall porous nozzle.

In the modified embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the inner porous side wall of the nozzle may be a hollow porous metal cylinder 15 made from sintered metal powder. A solid metal base member 16 is soldered to the lower end of this cylinder, and an internally threaded metal ring 17 is soldered to the top of the cylinder for attaching it to a filling tube in the same manner as the nozzle described first. The 'outer side wall of this nozzle is a fine mesh screen 18 that encircles the inner wall or porous cylinder loosely because the inner diameter of the screen is greater than the outer diameter of the inner wall, so that there is a very slight space between the inner wall and most of the screen. This is sufficient to produce the desired result described above. i r

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and-have illustratedand described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scopeof the. appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

1. In a container filling device, the combination with a vertical filling tube having an upper end for receiving a liquid under pressure, of a hollow nozzle secured to the lower end of the tube and extending downwardly therefrom for insertion in a container, the nozzle comprising a lower end'wall, a ring spaced above said end wall, circumferentially spaced vertical struts between said ring and end wall and secured thereto, and a pair of concentric porous side walls separated bysaid struts, the top and bottom of the space between said side walls being closed.

2. in a container filling device according to claim 1, outer porous wall being a cylindrical screen encircling there being only two of said struts disposed substanthe struts. tially diametrically opposite each other. 4. In a container filling deviceaccording to claim 1, 3. in a container filling device according to claim 1, the top and bottom of the space between the side walls the inner porous wall being a cylindrical screen be- 5 being closed by said ring and lower end wall. tween said struts in engagement therewith, and the 

1. In a container filling device, the combination with a vertical filling tube having an upper end for receiving a liquid under pressure, of a hollow nozzle secured to the lower end of the tube and extending downwardly therefrom for insertion in a container, the nozzle comprising a lower end wall, a ring spaced above said end wall, circumferentially spaced vertical struts between said ring and end wall and secured thereto, and a pair of concentric porous side walls separated by said struts, the top and bottom Of the space between said side walls being closed.
 2. In a container filling device according to claim 1, there being only two of said struts disposed substantially diametrically opposite each other.
 3. In a container filling device according to claim 1, the inner porous wall being a cylindrical screen between said struts in engagement therewith, and the outer porous wall being a cylindrical screen encircling the struts.
 4. In a container filling device according to claim 1, the top and bottom of the space between the side walls being closed by said ring and lower end wall. 